Flarable garment combination



May 7, 1963 Filed Sept. 12, 1960 A. A. GOULD FLARABLE GARMENTCOMBINATION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. AA 552 T A. 004 0 jgm Z ATTaQAfVr May 7, 1963 Filed Sept. 12, 1960 2 SheetsSheet 2 Patented May 7,1963 3,088,120 FLARABLE GARMENT COMBINATION Albert A. Gould, Bronx,N.Y., assignor to Arthur Imerman Undergarment Corp., Jersey City, N.J.,a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 12, 1960, Ser. No. 55,269 6Claims. c1. 2216) This invention relates to a method and means ofobtaining a flounced effect in a garment, more particularly it relatesto a skirt or undergarment structure which permits the skirt orundergarment to be worn either flounced or draped as desired.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my US. application SerialNo. 849,924 filed October 30, 1959, now abandoned.

Flouncing in skirts or undergarments is normally obtained by attachingone or several additional bands of relatively stiff fabric materialthereto and/ or by embedding stiff boning material or wire in thegarment adjacent the area to be flounced. Such garments are expensive tomake and bulky to store and to pack for shipping. Frequently, forshipping, the stiffening wire is removed from the garment and coiled ina separate package. This requires the user to rethread the wire into thegarment before use.

Among the objects of this invention is to provide an undergarment, towhich it is desired to impart a flounced or boulfant efiect without theaddition of wire and boning materials and with a means to expand thelower portion thereof to at least three times the diameter of the waistwithout at the same time increasing the bulkiness of the garment whenstored or packed for shipping to any substantial degree.

Another object of the invention is to provide an undergarment with acompressively adjustable waist line.

The invention is particularly related to undergarments where a verypronounced bouifant effect is desired but it may also be applied toskirts of dresses, ballet costumes and bathing suits, when verypronounced flouncing is desired in these garments.

The objects of the invention are obtained by providing the undergarmentwith means to hold one or more airtight, flexible tubes adjacent the hemand/or the waist band or other portion thereof to be expanded. The tubeshould preferably extend almost completely around the undergarment. Thetube is provided with a valve and/ or an extension so that it can beblown up with air or gas to tend to assume a ring shape. When notcontaining much air or gas, the tube or tubes are flexible andunnoticeable in the undergarment but when blown tight it assumes arelatively stiif ring shape sufficient to produce a flounoed effect inthe garment to which it is attached.

The tube may vary in diameter from about A for light small skirts forchildren to about 3"5" or more for larger garments. The tube can be madeof any airtight material, such as polyethylene, polyvinyl resins, nylon,Mylar polyester resin, regenerated cellulose film which has been coatedto improve its impermeability to air, cellulose acetate and similarcellulose esters, methyl cellulose and similar cellulose ethers,polypropylene, plastic coated paper tubes, rubber and synthetic rubber,etc. The tubes can be attached to the garment in any way which does notpuncture the tubular chamber. An especially desirable effect is obtainedby making the tube with a wavy axis so that when the ends of the tubeare brought together to form a ring, the latter has the crenelatedeifect so much desired in garments which are to be swirled.

Since the insertion of the tube into the channel therefor is a tediousand difficult operation requiring special tools,

it is an object of the invention to provide a garment and tube which canbe laundered without removing the tube. It is, therefore, necessary toprovide a tube which is readily inflatable even after being subjected tolaundering. .In collapsible plastic tubes, there is a tendency for thewalls to adhere when the tube is collapsed, thus, making such tubesimpossible or at least difiicult to inflate. One feature of thisinvention is based on the discovery that the adherence of the walls ofthe tubing which hinders inflation thereof can be eliminated byproviding the interior or" the tube with a plurality of lineations. Suchlineations may be readily formed in the tube during extrusion.Lineations of extremely minute height or depth are effective (on theorder of .0001, for example). The lineations may be spaced on the orderof about to inch apartr Among other objects of the invention is toprovide a tube and lace of fabric channel combination which can bepre-assembled and then attached to the garment.

The tube of the invention is especially useful in undergarmentscomprising woven or knitted cotton fabrics,

nylon fabrics, Dacron fabrics, polyacrylate fabrics or fabrics made withmixtures of cotton, nylon, Dacron or polyacrylate fibers, etc.

It is known that an inflated tube has been proposed to hold the loweredge of a raincoat slightly expanded to guide water from the coat awayfrom the feet (US. Patent No. 2,118,196) but the purpose of thisinvention is to expand the undergarment and all of the garments over itto a diameter at least three times the diameter of the waist.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of a slip made according to theinvention.

FIG. 2 is a detail view of an inflatable ring such as is inserted in theslip of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detail View of one form of valve means which may be employedto unite the two ends of a tubular body to form a closed ring.

FIG. 4 is a detail view showing a modified method and means forattaching the tube to the garment.

FIG. 5 is a detail view of a modified form of tube with means forattaching it to the garment.

FIG. 6 is a detail cross sectional view of another modified form oftube.

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the structure shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 1 of another form of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional View of still another form of the invention.

FIG. 10 is a side cross sectional view of a valve particularly suitedfor the tube of the invention, the valve being shown in open position.

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view of the valve taken on line 11-11 ofFIG. 10 but showing the valve in closed posltion.

FIG. 12. is an end perspective view of a striated tube in which thestriations are exaggerated as it would appear when the tube is expanded(or blown-up).

FIG. 13 is a view of a tube and fabric channel combination suitable forattaching to a garment.

The garment 10 of FIG. 1 may be a slip, an underskirt or similarundergarment and comprises a skirt portion 11, which is voluminousenough to extend outwardly a fashionable amount and which may beflexible enough to drape downwardly and loosely about the figure. The

lower portion of the skirt 11 contains one or more an-- The essentialfeature of the tube 20 or 20" is that it be light, flexible and closedat the ends so as to be airtight except for a valve or similar means toadmit air or similar gas to and from the tube.

In a very simple form of tube of FIG. 2, the first end 21 is closed by aflat seal 22 and the second end 23 is sealed to the larger end 24 of ashouldered tube with the small end 25 extending therefrom. The small end25 may be folded and closed by a rubber band 26.

A completely closed ring 20 may be obtained by sealing the two ends toopposite sides 31 and 32 of the cross of a T-shaped tubular structure asshown in FIG. 1 and in detail in FIG. 3. The leg 33 of the structurethen may include the valve structure. A simple valve structure is shownin FIG. 3 and comprises a flap 34 sealed at one side 35 of the openingin leg 33. The flap 35 is held against opening 33 by the back pressureof the gas in the tube 20. Air can be released from tube 20 by pressingthe cross 32 from the outside to move flap away from the opening of leg33.

An extensive casing 12 as shown in FIG. 1 is not necessary and insteadthe tube 20 may be attached to the desired fabric portion 15 of agarment by a series of loops 40. The loops are attached at the end 41 tothe fabric 15 and contain one part 42 of a two part fastener at theopposite end. The matching part (not shown) of the two part fastener isattached to fabric 15. Thus, the loop 20 may be easily removed when thegarment is to be washed or cleaned and readily reinserted when needed.

Another method of attaching the tubular loops 120 is shown in FIG. 5.The tube 120 of this modification contains an integral tape 27 formedwhen the tube is formed. A very convenient method of making the tube 20,20', 120, etc. is by extrusion and when made in this way the die can beconstructed to produce the cross sectional shape required. Tube 120 isattached to fabric 15 by sewing 28 or by any other suitable means.

Instead of a single attached tape 27 the tube may have two or more suchattaching means as shown in FIG. 6. The tube 220 of FIG. 6 has twolongitudinal tapes or fins 51, 52 integral therewith and may be attachedat opposite sides by threads 53, 54 to fabric 15.

An inflatable tube 320 may also be incorporated into the waist band 321of the skirt 100 as shown in FIG. 8. In this particular modification thetube 101 is employed for inflating either or both tubes 320 and/or 420.The tube 101 has a mouthpiece 102 and at the points where the ends 103and 104 of tube 101 are connected to tubes 320 and 420, respectively, avalve, which may be similar to that shown in FIG. 3, is located. Withthis arrangement tube 320 may be inflated without inflating tube 420 bypinching tube 101 below mouthpiece 102 and blowing in said mouthpiece;of course, tube 220 can be inflated in a similar way. The tube 101 islong enough to reach the mouth of the wearer after the skirt is donnedand yet this tube 101 does not dangle.

FIG. 9 shows another form of tube. Since the ring formed by the tube ofthe invention must have a rather large circumference if the skirt is tobe expandable to over twice the diameter of the waist, the best wayfound to accommodate the ring 520 to the skirt 110 is to form the tubewith undulations so that when the ends are brought into proximity toform a ring a crenelated ring results as shown in FIG. 9. In this figurethe ring has eight crests 521 and eight valleys 522 but it will beunderstood that ring 520 may be formed with any desired number of crestsand valleys 521 and 522 depending on the size of the skirt and thediameter of the tubing 520. In the figure shown the tube 520 is held atthe crests and at some of the valleys by the loops 40 (see FIG. 4).However, casings such as shown in FIG. 1 or attaching means such asshown in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be employed in FIG. 9 in place of the loops40. When this skirt is swirled by the wearer the edge thereof as seenfrom the side will have a very attractive wavy configuration.

FIG. 2 at 26 and FIG. 3 at 35 show very simple types of closure means orvalve structures. A surer or longer lasting seal is obtained by a valvesuch as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. The valve of FIGS. 10 and 11 (likethat of FIG. 3) is made of somewhat flexible plastic material so that itcan be heat sealed to the tube 20. The valve comprises an outer casing61 and an inner slidable plug 62. The outer casing 61 has the ringflange 63 by which the valve is heat sealed to the tube 20. The casing61 also contains a relatively large opening 64 at the inside end and asmaller opening 65 at the outside end. Opening 65 is generally circularbut includes side channels to orient the plug member 65 when the latteris fitted therein. Between the openings 64 and 65, there is an enlargedchamber 66 which is generally cylindrical in shape but which includestwo indented channels 67 and 68, which extend only a part of thedistance from the lower end of the chamber 66 of the casing toward theupper end.

The plug member 62 comprises a tubular upper portion 69, which ends in atransverse channel which opens only at the sides of the plug 62. Thelower end of the plug member comprises the stop 71 which is adapted tosnap into place in the opening 64 of the casing 61. The stop 71 isattached to the main body of the plug member 62 by an integral rod 72.The tubular portion 69 of the plug member includes longitudinal sideflanges to slide in the side channels of the opening 69 and prevent theplug member 62 from rotating with respect to the casing 61. When thevalve is open as shown in FIG. 10, air blown into tube 69 passes totransverse channel 70, thence to side channels 67 and 68 of the casing61 and out opening 64 which is located inside the tubing 200. When thevalve is in closed position shown in FIG. 11, both the openings oftransverse channel 70 are closed by casing 61 and the opening 64 of thecasing itself is closed by plug stop 71. A valve of this type isadvantageous because of the double seal and because the movement of theplug member 62 can be controlled by the teeth of the one blowing up thetube 200. The plug parts 61 and 62 are made of flexible plastic materialsuch as polyethylene so that the parts can be molded, removed from themandrels employed in molding and forced together due to the flexibilityof the parts. The valve is held in place on the fabric 202 by a tightfitting nylon washer 75.

The permanently enclosed tubing required for the device of the inventionmust be prevented from adhering in the collapsed state even afterWashing and drying of the garment containing the same. Thus, it isessential that the tubing contain longitudinal or spiral striations. Asshown in FIG. 12, the tube 200 comprises a multiplicity of internalstriations 201 which prevent any substantial portions of the internalwalls from adhering together When the tube is collapsed.

Threading the tube into the channel provided for it is one of the mostonerous tasks connected with the manu facture of the garment of theinvention. The combination tube and channel shown in FIG. 13 has,therefore, been developed. This combination comprises a net fabric stripbacking 202 which is substantially equal in length to the length of thetubing desired, a lace or net top fabric strip 203 which is puckered atthe edges with respect to strip 202, and the tubing 200. Puckering thefabric strip 203 with respect to strip 202 improves the appearance andperformance of the combination. The tubing 200 is permanently closed andsealed at the ends, one sealed end being shown at 204 in FIG. 13.Adjacent sealed end 64, a valve similar to that shown in FIGS. 10 and 11is sealed. The combination fabric channel and sealed in tube 200 is madein the following steps. The required length of striated tubing 200 iscut from a continuous roll of the same, a round hole is cut on one sideand near one end thereof of a size to accommodate the lower cylindricalportion 61 of the valve casing. The valve is heat sealed to the areasurrounding the hole. The ends of the tube are heat sealed and the tubeis tested for leaks. The net 202 and puckered fabric strip 203 are thensewed together, along two lines 207 and 208 simultaneously in a doubleneedle sewing machine, with the tube 200 therebetween. The fabric 208 ispunctured above the tube 69 of valve 60 and the washer 75 is forced overthe tube or valve stem 69 to fix the valve stem '69 outside of thechannel formed by fabrics 202 and 203. The resultant combina tionchannel and inflatable tube 200 is then ready to be attached to agarment.

In operation the tube 20, 20, 120, 200, etc. is fixed in place on thegarment, preferably on the inside of the garment as shown in FIGS. 1, 8and 9, although this is not essential, and thereafter whenever it isdesired to obtain a flounced effect the valve or tube 25 is opened andthe tube is expanded and stiffened by introducing air therein underpressure. The tube can be inflated or deflated as desired after thegarment is donned. The extent to which the garment is flounced willdepend on the pressure at which the tube is inflated.

The features and principles underlying the invention described above inconnection with specific exemplifications will suggest to those skilledin the art many other modifications thereof. It is accordingly desiredthat the appended claims shall not be limited to any specific feature ordetails thereof.

I claim:

1. A garment of the type which includes a skirt portion comprising atleast one annularly arranged fabric casing for bolding a tube affixed tosaid skirt portion in combination with an air-tight, light, flexibletube of substantially uniform cross-sectional size and shape held withinsaid casing,

valve means for said tube comprising a valve casing a portion of whichextends from a region on the periphery of said tube,

said tube being closed at the ends and along the length thereof exceptfor said valve means, said fabric casing comprising an opening on theinner side thereof with respect to said skirt through which a portion ofsaid valve casing extends,

means on said valve casing attaching the fabric casing thereto to fixthe position of said tube within said fabric casing,

said tube being sufficiently light and flexible as to exert nodistending influence on said fabric casing and garment when collapsedand comprising internal surface irregularities adapted to preventadherence of the walls of the tube when collapsed whereby the garmentmay be laundered without removing the tube.

2. A garment as claimed in claim 1 in which the fabric casing is afiixedto the inside of the skirt adjacent the hem thereof.

3. The garment combination as claimed in claim 1, in which said tube hasa natural undulating axis so that when the ends of the tube are broughtinto proximity to form a ring a crenulated ring is produced to simulatea desirable draped effect and to produce an undulated edge when theskirt is swirled.

4. The garment as claimed in claim 1 wherein said tube consistsessentially of a readily collapsible, extruded tube of thermoplasticmaterial and is heat sealed to the valve means.

5. A garment of the type which includes a skirt portion comprising atleast one annularly arranged fabric casing for holding a tube aflixed tosaid skirt portion in combination with an air-tight, light, flexibletube of substantially uniform cross-sectional size and shape held withinsaid casing,

valve means for said tube comprising a valve casing a portion of whichextends from a region on the periphery of said tube,

said tube being closed at the ends and along the length thereof exceptfor said valve means, said fabric casing comprising an opening on theinner side thereof with respect to said skirt through which a portion ofsaid valve casing extends,

means on said valve casing attaching the fabric casing thereto to fixthe position of said tube Within said fabric casing,

said tube being sufficiently light and flexible as to exert nodistending influence on said fabric casing and garment when collapsed,

said tube consisting essentially of a readily collapsible,

extruded tube of polyvinyl resin containing minute internal striationsto prevent adherence of the inner walls when the tube is collapsed.

6. A garment of the type which includes a skirt portion comprising atleast one annularly arranged fabric casing for holding a tube, incombination with an air-tight, light, flexible tube of substantiallyuniform cross-sectional size and shape held within said casing, saidtube being closed at the ends and along the length thereof except forone normally closed valve means bet-ween the closed ends which may beopened to inflate the tube, said tube being sufliciently light andflexible as to exert no distending influence on said casing and garmentwhen collapsed,

said tubing having an interior surface comprising minute projectionsadapted to prevent adherence of large surface regions of the collapsedtubing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,041,737 Beal May 26, 1936 2,759,186 Dye Aug. 21, 1956 2,903,706Alberts et al Sept. 15, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 20,779 Great Britain Apr.17, 1897 395,239 Great Britain July 13, 1933 484,924 Italy Sept. 26,1953

1. A GARMENT OF THE TYPE WHICH INCLUDES A SKIRT PORTION COMPRISING ATLEAST ONE ANNULARLY ARRANGED FABRIC CASING FOR HOLDING A TUBE AFFIXED TOSAID SKIRT PORTION IN COMBINATION WITH AN AIR-TIGHT, LIGHT, FLEXIBLETUBE OF SUBSTANTIALLY UNIFORM CROSS-SECTIONAL SIZE AND SHAPE HELD WITHINSAID CASING, VALVE MEANS FOR SAID TUBE COMPRISING A VALVE CASING APORTION OF WHICH EXTENDS FROM A REGION ON THE PERIPHERY OF SAID TUBE,SAID TUBE BEING CLOSED AT THE ENDS AND ALONG THE LENGTH THEREOF EXCEPTFOR SAID VALVE MEANS, SAID FABRIC CASING COMPRISING AN OPENING ON THEINNER SIDE THEREOF WITH RESPECT TO SAID SKIRT THROUGH WHICH A PORTION OFSAID VALVE CASING EXTENDS, MEANS ON SAID VALVE CASING ATTACHING THEFABRIC CASING THERETO TO FIX THE POSITION OF SAID TUBE WITHIN SAIDFABRIC CASING, SAID TUBE BEING SUFFICIENTLY LIGHT AND FLEXIBLE AS TOEXERT NO DISTENDING INFLUENCE ON SAID FABRIC CASING AND GARMENT WHENCOLLAPSED AND COMPRISING INTERNAL SURFACE IRREGULARITIES ADAPTED TOPREVENT ADHERENCE OF THE WALLS OF THE TUBE WHEN COLLAPSED WHEREBY THEGARMENT MAY BE LAUNDERED WITHOUT REMOVING THE TUBE.